


Because I've Been Coming For You

by Chash



Series: Miss Atomic Bomb [24]
Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce, Tricksters - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-05-06 23:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5435444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nawat's spending Christmas with the Coopers, despite Aly's warnings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because I've Been Coming For You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chicleeblair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicleeblair/gifts).



> Holiday prompt fill!

“You really don’t have to come,” Aly tells Nawat. She has told him this at least five times, and he’s decided acting like every time is the first time is his best plan for dealing with it.

“Why wouldn’t I come?” he asks, cocking his head at her.

“Ma and I fight like cats and dogs at Christmas.”

“I know.” He’d gone home last year, mostly so he could explain to his parents in person that he would be staying in New York, and even though Aly and her mother are doing better, he’d still received a lot of emails about how awkward things were and how eager she was to get back to New York. And now the two of them have moved in together, which he hears Alanna is not thrilled about. He’s not going into this blind.

“I guess it might be better, since Alan’s girlfriend will be around too, but she’s local, so she’s going to be with her family most of the time. You’ll be staying with us.”

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”

Aly gives him a wary look, and Nawat just smiles. He hasn’t met her family, but they’re her family. He wants to meet them. And he sees no reason to put it off. Aly doesn’t always believe it, but he’s planning to be with her for the rest of his life. If it’s not this Christmas, it will be next Christmas, so it might as well be this Christmas.

“You know how Ma and I are,” she says.

“I know.”

“And my grandma always hosts a big Christmas party. You’ll have to meet Aunt Daine and Uncle Numair and Sarra and Riki and Uncle Thom and–”

“I  _want_  to meet everyone,” he says. “They’re you’re family. You love them.” He grins. “Even your mother.”

“I do love them.” She sighs. “If you really want to come, you can. I’ll be happy to have you. But it’s going to be awkward, and they’re going to ask you all kinds of questions.”

“I don’t mind,” he says, and kisses her. “I want to come. I’m very excited. It’s going to be fun.”

“Yours is a happy nature,” Aly grumbles.

“Yes, it is,” he agrees. “And so is yours, most of the time. It’s only when your mother is involved. Besides, maybe she’ll like me. I can be very charming.”

“Don’t get carried away,” she says, but she’s smiling.

*

Aly has almost a week off of work, mostly because the Balitangs are Hindu and don’t celebrate Christmas, so they don’t mind her going to spend the holiday with her family, so long as she’s back for New Year’s. Nawat thinks she might have been happier if they hadn’t encouraged her to take such a long break, but he’s hoping she’s just being pessimistic. He’s heard years and years worth of her fights with her mother, so he knows it’s not likely to be easy, but he’s hoping the  _we’re living together_  arguments won’t be worse than last year’s  _I’m dating my friend from the internet_  arguments.

It’s going to be interesting, certainly. He’s already very interested.

The bus is running late–according to Aly, it’s  _always_  running late–and the train has almost shut down by the time they finally get in, so Alan comes to pick them up.

Although he hasn’t met Alan in person, Nawat has spoken to him before. Aly likes to put him on speakerphone, and sometimes if she’s working she’ll just have him pick up the phone and talk to her twin, to find out the problem. So he still feels like they’re already friends. Aly loves him so much, he’d probably feel that way even if they’d never spoken.

Alan is taller than he is, with messy red hair and a crooked smile. It upgrades to a full-fledged grin when he spots them, and he sweeps Aly up in a hug, twirling her around, before trying to get away with just shaking Nawat’s hand, which obviously is not going to fly. Nawat hugs him hard, and Alan laughs.

“Nice to meet you too. You must be Nawat.”

“Yes, it’s a pleasure.”

“Same. Good to see you guys.”

“Thanks for the ride. Ma’s asleep and Da’s working?”

“Yup. They’re both real excited to see you.”

Aly gives him an unimpressed look. “Are they.”

“Of course they are. Ma’s excited to fight and Da wants to hear how the bar is.” He puts his arm around Aly and squeezes her shoulders. “It’s Christmas, for goodness sake. Cheer up, Aly.”

“I’m very cheerful,” she says, petulant, and Alan and Nawat grin at each other. “I am! It’s going to be a magical holiday. Where’s your girlfriend?”

“At home with her family, obviously,” says Alan. “We’ve only been dating for a couple months. She’s coming to dinner once and to Grandma’s party and that’s it.” He pauses. “Ma tried to set up the guest room for Nawat, but Da said she was being petty and said she wasn’t allowed, so he’s in your room.”

“And you’re telling me to cheer up,” Aly mutters.

He claps her on the shoulder. “Well, like I said, Da did talk her out of it,” he says.

*

The Dancing Dove isn’t nearly as nice as the bar where Aly works, but he can see the change in her as soon as she walks in, the love she feels for it is obvious. This is what Aly wants, a place of her own, a place like her father has.

George Cooper is tall and lanky, with a big nose and a bigger smile. He vaults himself over the bar when he spots the three of them, and he sweeps Aly up in another twirling, giant hug.

“There’s my little girl,” he says. “Thought the bus might not come after all.”

“Hi, Da,” she says. “You haven’t closed up yet?”

“I thought you two might need a drink after that trip.” His eyes go to Nawat, and Nawat swallows hard. There’s something canny in his gaze, and he feels like George Cooper can see all of him. “You must be Nawat,” he says, and offers his hand. “I’m Aly’s father.”

“Yes, sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you, sir, thank you for inviting me,” says Nawat.

“Polite,” says George, raising his eyebrows at Aly.

“Don’t scare him, Da,” Aly says.

He just grins. “Did you want a drink?”

“Is it a trap?” Nawat asks Aly, in a fake whisper. As he hoped, it makes her da smile.

“What do you want, Aly?”

“Rum and Coke.”

“This late?”

“If you don’t want to know, don’t ask,” she says, and he grins. “Nawat wants a Guinness.”

“Does he?”

“Aly knows,” he says, smiling at her, and when he catches George smiling too, he thinks it went well.

*

In the morning, he wakes up before Aly–he  _always_  wakes up before Aly–and he considers, briefly, staying in bed until she wakes up. But he’s going to be here for nearly a week, and meeting Alanna without Aly might actually be better than having to deal with the two of them together.

And he’s  _hungry_. That’s what really tears it.

The Coopers live in a small house a few blocks from the Dancing Dove; he doesn’t know a lot about American politics, even having lived here for over a year, but he knows it’s not the kind of place high-level politicians usually live. But Jonathan Conte is the most liberal president the country has had in years, and Alanna Cooper is far from a typical politician herself. And it feels like the kind of place where Aly would grow up. It feels like  _her_.

Alanna is in the kitchen when he gets there, wearing a fluffy bathrobe. She looks a great deal like her daughter, but shorter and stockier, with bright violet eyes that widen at the sight of Nawat in his pajamas, with his hair a tangled mess.

“Good morning,” he says, offering her a smile and his hand. “You must be Aly’s mother. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Secretary Cooper. I’m Nawat Crow.”

Alanna takes another second to just look at him; her gaze is more openly aggressive than her husband’s was, but he likes that. He’d rather someone disliked him outright than smiling outside and seething inside. “Nice to meet you, Nawat,” she says, her voice careful. She shakes his hand and nods, once, some kind of acknowledgement. “I hope the bus wasn’t too bad.”

“It was late, but Aly said it’s always late. I just slept most of the time.”

She nods, takes a drink from her mug and then seems to remember her manners. “I’m sorry, did you want coffee? Food? Aly didn’t tell us what to get, she said she’d just go shopping today, but we have some cereal and eggs? I’m not much of a cook, I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

“Do you want some eggs?” he asks. “I can make eggs if you give me–do you have tea?”

Alanna seems to be thinking it over, like it’s a trick of some kind, but finally she nods. “Do you want a regular-sized mug or a giant mug? Is English breakfast okay?”

“Giant mug, yes, please.”

When Aly wakes up, Nawat and Alanna are sitting at the table, Alanna reading the newspaper on her iPad and Nawat working on the crossword, occasionally asking for her help on clues he doesn’t know.

“Good morning,” Aly says slowly.

“Oh, good morning!” says Nawat, beaming at her. “Good timing. Your mother and I are both terrible at pop culture questions, we need your help.”

“Hi, Aly,” says Alanna, with a much smaller smile. “Nawat made breakfast, but it’s probably getting cold.”

“That’s okay, I just need coffee,” she says. “Good to see you, Ma. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” Alanna agrees, and Nawat can see Aly’s shoulders untensing, letting herself relax.

Maybe it really will be. Nawat’s going to do everything he can to make sure it is.


End file.
